TL;DR:

Christophe Robin Hairbrush Review

The most memorable birthday gift I got when I turned 21 had nothing to do with someone buying me shots and holding my hair back. Although it did have something to do with my hair. That day, a gift from the gods (well, actually, my parents) came into my life in the form of a Mason Pearson brush. A freakin’ MASON PEARSON brush, folks.

What you may be able to gauge from my excitement level over that birthday gift is that I love a good hairbrush. And while a Mason Pearson is certainly expensive, in my opinion, spending a little extra on beauty products and tools is totally worth it — especially when it comes to your hair. Your hair is fragile, and most of us put it through a lot on a daily basis, so using a high-quality, gentle brush can really affect the health of your hair. And while the Mason Pearson may be a classic, there's a new fancy-shmancy hairbrush that recently jumped on the scene and is worth giving a try: the Christophe Robin Hairbrush. In fact, my fellow Allure editors and I liked it so much, we gave it a 2017 Best of Beauty Award.

First of all, it’s about half the price of the standard-size Mason Pearson, so that's reason enough to at least consider it. But money doesn't buy happiness or whatever, and the reason you should really consider this brush is because it's one of the most satisfying and efficient hairbrushes I've ever used.

This brush is made with 100 percent natural boar bristles, which help keep hair shiny and frizz-free as you brush through it. It also gives you a really nice scalp massage, which has the added benefit of increasing blood circulation to the area. There's no plastic and no nylon anywhere on the brush, so there's nothing sharp to stab your scalp or potentially create more knots in your hair. In fact, this brush slides through snarls with barely a tug or a pull. It's incredibly gentle. It's also incredibly lightweight, making it easy on your wrist if you happen to use it for a prolonged period of time, like during a blowout or a complicated styling session.

The thing that really impresses me about this brush, though, is how full it leaves my hair after I use it. When I blow-dry my hair at home, I rough-dry it with my fingers for a few minutes, then brush through my hair with this brush, then rough-dry it again until it's fully dry. Then, as a final step, I brush through it again. Even with this lazy-person method, I end up with voluminous, shiny hair, and it's entirely thanks to this brush. You'd swear I went and got a blowout when I really woke up only a half hour before I had to be at work. Now if that's not a reason to love this brush, then I don't know what is.